B grade at for the ESCC Aust Day Crit at Heffron Park. Rode there from the North Shore which was a good warm up. Always funny riding down Oxford St early in the morning trying to avoid the glass and seeing the half naked remnants of the night before puffing on a ciggy and supping on a beer. I seriously saw a guy in just a set of leather chapsâ€¦I thought that was just a joke!Handicap, D, C then B 15 laps. The pace was high in B from the go especially onto the straight where it was 55plus. D grade was caught in about 3 or 4 laps, but C was no-where in sight. After lap 5 the paced eased up, which was good because it really was a stretch to keep up with the constant accelerations. There were no clear breaks just some big turns at the front. About mid-way my saddle came loose. This was very disconcerting. If I had to brake it would drop down and when I accelerated the nose flicked up and nearly off the back. Eventually this started to really hurt my back. I slipped to the back for a bit of a stretch and rest. This was a bad decision, as this was when Mr., Campbell decided to drop the hammer for C grade. I was pretty spent anyway and was off the back with about 4 laps to go. I rode through to finish by myself.I kind of wonder what the organisers thought letting Campbell and a few others burgle in B grade then back up for A grade. In A grade, he DNFâ€™d. What is the point? Campbell won BTW.Anyway, it was only my second run on Heffron Park and I did a lot better than last time â€“ the course didnâ€™t intimidate me. I probably should have ridden C grade, but, having started in B, I might as well continue. I will do a few Point series races targeting a mid field finish in B grade.I stayed on to watch Peter Milostic nearly win the A race. Awesome individual performance. Riding home through the Aust day crowds with the road temp at 36-38degrees on my cyclocomputer was interesting. A total zoo. I tell you, Australia has got to be the J walk capital of the world.HRM 186max, 173 avg.

Well Eddie Salas aside, yep the bunch made a mistake. It was pretty funny he was on a solo break and begging for a Prime to sprint for. Finally, the annoncer managed to convince someone from the crowd to stump up for a $20 Prime. But he was on a misson yesterday was Peter, definately deserved to win. Always OTF.

NSCC Beaumont Rd Crit, A and B combined, 45plus starters. It was wet. "Hands up who wants to race?" About half. "Okay then, who doesn't want to race." About four hands. "So what do those who didn't put up their hands want to do then?" Don't want to race but too scared to say so, obviously. A and B combined, never popular when you are in B grade . Oh well. "We shouldn't be running this, but you said you wanted to so its on your shoulders etc....." 1hr race. The race was more an A grade than B grade race. It was really stung out, lots of attacks. Fast, then crawling around each 180degree turn and drop the hammer. B split in two, plus other fragments. We passed D then C by mid race. There was a lot of rooster tail to eat; my face was black. Funny, the spray seemed to get warmer as the race went on.Anyway, a break from mid race of two riders. Then a break from the field, I knew this was the train I needed to catch. I made the back of six riders driving through at 54kmh. Then one rider gaps, damn, I ride round. An A grade rider decides this is not his train after all and gaps. There is a 50m gap before I know it. Then it is 100plus. I dig deep 'cause I know this is the one. Two A grade riders. I am on my own, but catching them slowly, but I am doing 53kmh and on max HR. I get to within maybe 20m. One rider looks back. Great I think they will sit-up a bit, three riders is better than two to catch the break. Nope, they sprint. I can't believe it. I am crushed. I hang around in no-man's land with no matches left to burn and finally I am back in the main group. I did a lot of work on the front. Not too much because I was not really driving just rolling through and keeping the pace high. Plus my race plan was stay at the front and out of the crashes. Two laps to go. Third wheel. The two breaks have combined, to one group of four. We won't catch them. All A grade anyway. Third wheel at the start of the last lap is a terrible position. Sure enough I am first wheel before I know it and no-one comes round. I drop the pace and get ready to react. They come round with maybe 500 to go. And fast. I struggle but get the train. It splinters and I am at the back. Damn. 8th overall.Lessons: Don't be at the front for the last lap. (I totally know this but I overrated my ability to bridge and pass.)I am really not as good as the A grade riders. Nearly making it was really depressing. There is a level of muscular fitness I don't have. I clicked up two gears and tried to TT when they sprinted but they were just too good.39km in exactly 1hr. Max speed 55kph, max RPM 158. Max HR 188, avg HR 169.

hey ft_critical, I was in the same race, it was definitely a tough one! I was in the bunch with you behind the group of 4 ahead of us. I was the one who started the sprint way too early, against TLL's advice as always. In my mind I was thinking "hmm if I go now, maybe these guys wont get organised and decide who's going to chase so I'll get 5th", but it wasn't going to happen and of course a few passed me before the line. Has taken me a while to clean the bike and myself, I was absolutely filthy!

philip wrote:hey ft_critical, I was in the same race, it was definitely a tough one! I was in the bunch with you behind the group of 4 ahead of us. I was the one who started the sprint way too early, against TLL's advice as always. In my mind I was thinking "hmm if I go now, maybe these guys wont get organised and decide who's going to chase so I'll get 5th", but it wasn't going to happen and of course a few passed me before the line. Has taken me a while to clean the bike and myself, I was absolutely filthy!

Hey Phillip, yep I saw you last year too. Are you NSCC too? I was talking to MG on the way home and he was the one who said it played out more like an A race. Shows how far still to go for me, I don't think I could stay off the front for half the race yet. I quite enjoyed it though. Do you race anywhere else?What are your training rides? I do Bike Addiction Thurs, and am trying to do the ESCC points series on Tue nights. I am going to alternate NSCC and Warratahs for weekend racing.

ft_critical wrote:Hey Phillip, yep I saw you last year too. Are you NSCC too?

Yeah, I just started racing at the end of last year.

ft_critical wrote:I was talking to MG on the way home and he was the one who said it played out more like an A race. Shows how far still to go for me, I don't think I could stay off the front for half the race yet.

Me too, I found it tough enough where we were!

ft_critical wrote:Do you race anywhere else?

I've done one manly/warringah West Head race which was great and plan to do that when it doesn't clash with NSCC races. I plan to get to the st ives peleton sports crit on Wednesday nights but haven't got around to that yet. Next weekend me and a friend are going to do the Calga TT.

ft_critical wrote:What are your training rides? I do Bike Addiction Thurs, and am trying to do the ESCC points series on Tue nights. I am going to alternate NSCC and Warratahs for weekend racing.

Weekday mornings I sometimes ride with some nscc friends and have done dawn patrol a couple of times. Saturdays I often do a Renegade ride.

ESCC Point Series B grade. Aim finish in the bunch. Headwind 40kph. 35 starters. 4 creep off the front early. We have a bit of coaching from a senior A rider. Paceline forms. It is hard work - really. 4 more off the front, then back. 4 more off, I find myself alone in no-mans land with 7 laps to go. Not catching, not falling back. It sucks. I am 5bpm below max. The A Train (handicap format) come through trailing a small group of B. I drop to the back and have to work to stay in contact. 4 laps to go, I am gone, so are all but about 6 B grade. I try to stay out ahead of C grade on my own, but they catch me with one to go. ISSUE-my speed skills are not good enough, I am gapped 1.5 bike lengths through each corner and am constantly sprinting to get back on. Advice is, higher entry speed and pedal out earlier.

toolonglegs wrote:Tough riding Tuesday nights at Hefron.I don't think there is a harder race in Sydney...yup just finishing is a major mission.Only once did I come close to doing anything special there .

I really wanted to do this series. Raced the first night it was on in November last year - was great fun, absolute chaos on the last lap when all the grades came together. Got t-boned by a taxi the next morning.

Lined up in my first race for 2010 yesterday at SOP. Fields in all grades were HUGE (trophy race or something for waratah). With fields of 40+ and a tight circuit i thought there would be a bit of argey-bargey...and there was! The pace was hot from the get-go with the first few laps done at ~40km/h before settling into a "sedate" ~37km/h. Positioned myself near the front and did a few pulls. Found myself on the front going into the "preem" lap which was tough but probably for the best as we caught a slower grade on that lap. Coming out of the last corner i got blocked by a D grader and two leaders got away but managed to pull it back and take 2nd in the preem Thought i was going to pop but managed to suck it up, dropping back to 10th or so in the process. The race was pretty steady for the remainder of the race. With time running out i made my way forward and soon we got the bell (actually 5min sooner than expected). Unfortunately we caught D grade again and i got squeezed twice on the back straight (thought i was going to end up in the bushes at one point) and lost a few spots. Coming out of the last corner i put the hammer down and made steady progress, mowing down half a dozen riders and taking 5th on the line (my best finish in C so far)

Would have liked to have seen a more orderly race with a nice formation going at the front instead of 4 and 5 wide, elbows flailing and lots of shouting. This would have made taking the last corner easier for everyone and there would have been less chaos when encountering slower grades. Unfortunately a rider or two in A grade we're involved in a stack at the last coner which resulted in the race being stopped early and the ambos being called

One guy had the nerve to shout, "get a move on you guys at the front!". Mate if you don't like the pace get your ass to the front and set the pace yourself

Promoted myself to B grade - got dropped on lap 4 of 30 buggers were averaging 39km/h in the first 5 or so laps.

Heard the yell to join the C graders circulating so had a few turns on the front at a more suitable pace, with the rest of the "dropped from b graders all deferring the sprint to the guys who know their limitations.

Still sore today, ouch!

So we get the leaders we deserve and we elect, we get the companies and the products that we ask for, right? And we have to ask for different things. – Paul Gildingbut really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.

JV911 wrote:Coming out of the last corner i put the hammer down and made steady progress, mowing down half a dozen riders and taking 5th on the line (my best finish in C so far)

Great work JV, shame about D grade getting in your way.

JV911 wrote:Unfortunately a rider or two in A grade we're involved in a stack at the last coner which resulted in the race being stopped early and the ambos being called

It was a B grade rider who crossed wheels and went down hard by the look of things. Hope he is okay 'cause he was on the deck under the silver blanket for a long while. Apparently, he took out the guy in front and the one behind. A Waratah I think.

B grade was pretty poor really. They would speed through the two tighter corners and then coast. It started to annoy me so when PE launched a small attack, I went, and then went through him. I wish some people would follow you know. Anyway, I was off on my own for 6-8 laps, I caught up to A grade and sat back about 100m and B were out of sight. B put on the pace for the Prime and came back within about 100m of me. PRIME for me. They being in sight again I dropped back for a rest. Then the above incident happened. The race was sort-of neutralised or just put into confusion. We didn't race for two laps then for about 8 laps we went slow past the accident and raced the rest. Again, the poor cornering and general malaise down the straight was annoying me. So when PE went again, same as before, I went and went through him. This time I really wanted him to follow. Anyway, I had about 200m on B and with two/three to go I knew that distance wouldn't be enough to hold them off so I was praying for someone to come forward. But they called it off. Disappointing but it really was the right decision (as in if in doubt, call it off.)

Lessons I am reminded of:- Don't sit at the back even in a slow race, get up the front. With the less confident riders braking heavily into the corners the concetina effect was terrible (worse than a higher grade race.) 'You will suffer on the back.'- 'Look three riders ahead' not at what you are going to hit or the wheel ahead and you go through quicker.- Pedal till the last minute in and pedal as soon as possible out of the corner; it is free speed that no-one else is taking.

ft_critical wrote:It was a B grade rider who crossed wheels and went down hard by the look of things. Hope he is okay 'cause he was on the deck under the silver blanket for a long while. Apparently, he took out the guy in front and the one behind. A Waratah I think.

was it at the last corner?

its weird because just moments before we saw the st. johns van being deployed i was talking with another guy re the median strip in hte middle of the corner being quite dangerous and how when LACC have races there we go on the outside of the median

ft_critical wrote:Lessons I am reminded of:- Don't sit at the back even in a slow race, get up the front. With the less confident riders braking heavily into the corners the concetina effect was terrible (worse than a higher grade race.) 'You will suffer on the back.'- 'Look three riders ahead' not at what you are going to hit or the wheel ahead and you go through quicker.- Pedal till the last minute in and pedal as soon as possible out of the corner; it is free speed that no-one else is taking.

agree on all points. i mentioned to someone how everyone seemed to be entering the corners overly cautious i.e. SLOW. then having to get out of the saddle to catch up to the rider in front...anyone up the back would have been strung out 50 metres!

its weird because just moments before we saw the st. johns van being deployed i was talking with another guy re the median strip in hte middle of the corner being quite dangerous and how when LACC have races there we go on the outside of the median

Yes last corner. SM was saying that he told the officials the outside line is safer. But, then again, racing is supposed to be about improving your skills so keeping us wrapped in cotton wool is not the answer. You would think that B grade should be able to deal with it. Maybe outside for lower grades... but I don't know.

JV911 wrote:...Unfortunately we caught D grade again and i got squeezed twice on the back straight (thought i was going to end up in the bushes at one point) and lost a few spots.

This was my first race, I was in D grade and totally amazed that I managed to keep with the bunch for the duration. The mess when C passed D just after the prim lap spoiled the pace a bit, I think we might have had a break around then had we been free to run. C seemed to take ages to get past - lots of yelling, I'm sure we should have slowed a bit more than we did - then sat 30m in front of us for what seemed like an age. I ended up nowhere near the front at the finish due to dropping back a bit too much for the last corner, but I gave what I had in a sprint to the line and managed to pass a few others on the way. Excellent sport!

I finished, this is a huge result. It was a smaller group of 25 which left no where to hide. It was rolling turns the whole race. The pace was fast, everyone is getting fitter.

Personally, the great things were that other than one corner, my speed skills are good now and I can find little places to rest for a few seconds. This is reflected in my avg HR being 6bpm lower than before and this is validated by my PE. This time my legs blew. I couldn't hold the wheel for the pull with 6 to go. They yelled at me, which was embarassing, but I couldn't take my turn So I dropped to the back and hung on. The numbers had dwindled so there wasn't that much of a concetina effect, and I needed the break.

I found it hard to know what line to take as we went into corners two wide, especially if I was pulling through on a corner. There is so much track, I wasn't sure where to go after my pull in the corner either - what line to leave for the rider coming through that is. Experience will teach me I guess. The cornering was so fast today. I could see the wheels in font of me skipping and sliding from the speed as well as feel the traction limits in my own tyres, I have never cornered so fast. Frightening and exhilarating.

I experienced the A grade charge to the line. I was dropped a quarter of the way down the straight, because I was on the wrong wheel, but I couldn't bridge across either. The speed is unbelievable. And this is the lead in speed, then you have to sprint on top of it. One day, I want to be in that bunch just to experience it. It is also super dangerous on the last lap at that speed with everyone trying to find positions and slower riders falling back.

I think I will finish with some quotes:LK: There is no way you could ever push yourself that hard in training. Every week you get massive power gains from racing here. A grade averaged over 420w last week.NK: I finally won one after 12years of suffering here. (NK has won the NSCC A crit heaps of times so it shows how hard the Tue races are)ESCC Rider 101: Another $15 of suffering finished. Now I will lie awake until 12pm waiting for my heart rate to go back to normal.

Being first race ever, heart rate was extremely high beforehand. Just wanted to stay at the back and get comfortable riding in a big group and also watched and learned the lines they were taking. Wind today made it really tough, crusing down one straight at 50+ then on the other side it was a struggle coming back.

Heart rate started relaxing a bit into the race after the adrenalin rush. Started talking to some of the racers and got some good advice as to where I should be on some of the turns for less wind.

Saw the 2 laps to go sign so decided I might try and get a few positions up by going up the outside. Went on the outside to see someone already in a break by himself. Bridged it, and looked back to see that there was a gap in the group. Went back to the outside of the rider and put my head down and pedaled. Up the small turn hill and the headwind comes, just kept head down got and the drops and pedaled, started to think what the hell am I doing.

Gap started to increase as I turned went back onto the tailwind straight. Good to get the breath back a bit. Came back around the turn into the headwind slight uphill turn to see the group just before it. Heart rate was almost maxed out now, but just told the body to keep going into the headwind. Came to the last turn with an alright gap with heart maxed out, made it back with the tailwind.

Good race, extremely nervous at the start, but as it progressed it became lot easier. Still need to get used to being so close to others though, stayed at the back until I decided to go for it. Tried to get close to other riders that were back there to try to get used to it.

Being first race ever, heart rate was extremely high beforehand. Just wanted to stay at the back and get comfortable riding in a big group and also watched and learned the lines they were taking. Wind today made it really tough, crusing down one straight at 50+ then on the other side it was a struggle coming back.

Heart rate started relaxing a bit into the race after the adrenalin rush. Started talking to some of the racers and got some good advice as to where I should be on some of the turns for less wind.

Saw the 2 laps to go sign so decided I might try and get a few positions up by going up the outside. Went on the outside to see someone already in a break by himself. Bridged it, and looked back to see that there was a gap in the group. Went back to the outside of the rider and put my head down and pedaled. Up the small turn hill and the headwind comes, just kept head down got and the drops and pedaled, started to think what the hell am I doing.

Gap started to increase as I turned went back onto the tailwind straight. Good to get the breath back a bit. Came back around the turn into the headwind slight uphill turn to see the group just before it. Heart rate was almost maxed out now, but just told the body to keep going into the headwind. Came to the last turn with an alright gap with heart maxed out, made it back with the tailwind.

Good race, extremely nervous at the start, but as it progressed it became lot easier. Still need to get used to being so close to others though, stayed at the back until I decided to go for it. Tried to get close to other riders that were back there to try to get used to it.

Gone up to C grade next week .

Wow that is impressive Nic, but not all that surprising. You had no trouble keeping up with the FPR's on a mountain bike so you were always going to be seriously dangerous on a roadie. Well done mate

ft_critical wrote:B grade at for the ESCC Aust Day Crit at Heffron Park. Rode there from the North Shore which was a good warm up. Always funny riding down Oxford St early in the morning trying to avoid the glass and seeing the half naked remnants of the night before puffing on a ciggy and supping on a beer. I seriously saw a guy in just a set of leather chapsâ€¦I thought that was just a joke!Handicap, D, C then B 15 laps. The pace was high in B from the go especially onto the straight where it was 55plus. D grade was caught in about 3 or 4 laps, but C was no-where in sight. After lap 5 the paced eased up, which was good because it really was a stretch to keep up with the constant accelerations. There were no clear breaks just some big turns at the front. About mid-way my saddle came loose. This was very disconcerting. If I had to brake it would drop down and when I accelerated the nose flicked up and nearly off the back. Eventually this started to really hurt my back. I slipped to the back for a bit of a stretch and rest. This was a bad decision, as this was when Mr., Campbell decided to drop the hammer for C grade. I was pretty spent anyway and was off the back with about 4 laps to go. I rode through to finish by myself.I kind of wonder what the organisers thought letting Campbell and a few others burgle in B grade then back up for A grade. In A grade, he DNFâ€™d. What is the point? Campbell won BTW.Anyway, it was only my second run on Heffron Park and I did a lot better than last time â€“ the course didnâ€™t intimidate me. I probably should have ridden C grade, but, having started in B, I might as well continue. I will do a few Point series races targeting a mid field finish in B grade.I stayed on to watch Peter Milostic nearly win the A race. Awesome individual performance. Riding home through the Aust day crowds with the road temp at 36-38degrees on my cyclocomputer was interesting. A total zoo. I tell you, Australia has got to be the J walk capital of the world.HRM 186max, 173 avg.

Yeh, I was in C grade. Mid race the splits provided over the line showed that C and B grade were lapping at the same pace, that must of been when you mentioned that B grade slowed up.

Computer... he jumps out of B grade rides across the gap to C grade then thru and out the front. Not exactly B grade pace. I was on the front of C grade when he came past, I wasn't ready for him, otherwise I would of had a go of getting his wheel. There was one lap plus the straight to go when he went past. Could of used him to suck me off the front of C grade. But like most fishing tails, its "the one that got away". Average speed in C grade was 40.6kph. Previous year was 42kph in C grade.

Last time I raced against Computer was in a miss-em-out at Lidcome oval. I knew I had no chance of out gunning him, so the only solution was to get him eliminated by boxing him in, but I had buckleys of doing that either.

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